Missing Link
by FresianFire
Summary: Annette can remember everything that has happened in her life since she was 8. She calls it her curse. But one day she wakes up and realizes that she is missing an entire weeks worth of memories. She is determined to find out what happened and her only clues so far point to some Host Club at Ouran Academy. What the heck happened that week and why can't she remember? OCx?
1. Chapter 1

Most people spend their whole lives trying to stand out; well I have spent my whole life trying to fit in. Fitting in is easy for most people but not for me. I mean I look fine, people tell me I am pretty all the time but I know I am not completely gorgeous or anything so that isn't the problem. I don't have weird personality or an odd habit; I am just a normal teenage girl in most aspects. The only thing different is my brain.

My name is Annette and I can remember every little detail of my life since third grade, when the accident happened. I guess you could say I have perfect memory but it's not exactly a good thing. Most people always claim to want perfect memory but you don't realize how horrible it is till you have it.

You don't just remember all the things you need to study and all the good things. You also have to remember the bad things and it's those bad memories that float around and always pop up in your mind, not the good ones. I can remember ever since embarrassing and horrible thing that has ever happened to me since I was 8 years old. It makes it hard to move on.

I remember the exact words from when the guy I liked in 4th grade teased me. When I fell and got covered in mud in front of the entire school in 6th grade. All the embarrassing conversations I had in middle school and when I cried during the first day of high school. I remember all the embarrassing stuff that people normally forget after a month or two.

I can't tell a lot of people about it. Only my aunt and two best friends know actually. I know from movies and from experiences how people treat you like you are some sort of freak when they find out you are different. At first they think it is cool but then they start wanting to know more about it and why it is happening to you. Then they start to get jealous and claim that having that sort of talent counts as cheating.

Since perfect memory helps me study I was mistaken for being a genius as a kid but since that got me too much attention my aunt, who I live with, suggested that I turn it down a notch. So now I do my best to be average. I don't like the attention I get from being above average so average is just fine with me.

Anyways I was able to live my life pretty normally up till now. You might be wondering what 'till now' means and what is all this about an accident in third grade? Well, let me start with the 'now' part. It first started this morning when I first woke up.

I woke up this morning feeling like crap. I figured that it was because I fell asleep late the night before. So after beating up my alarm clock in order to get it to shut up I made my way to the bathroom. I did my normal shower and started brushing my hair.

I walked back into my bedroom and put on my clothes. I looked at my phone to check the time and I figured I have plenty of time left till I was supposed to meet Natalie and Brooke, my two best friends who are the only people who I can talk about my secret to. My aunt also knows but she is never really around to talk.

There was something that was off about the time though. For some reason the date on my phone was November 15 and today was supposed to be the 8th. I figured it was just a small glitch that will fix itself.

After getting dressed I made my way downstairs to get breakfast. I made myself a waffle and sat down at the table. Brooke always gives me a bad time about eating alone because she thinks that I must feel super lonely but it has never really bothered me. I live with my aunt who is constantly working. She is one of those big celebrity event planners so she is always at her work or traveling for her job.

My aunt was never the motherly type so she hired a nanny to take care of me through most of my childhood and early teens. She finally decided that I didn't need a nanny anymore after starting high school. My aunt is still only 32 years old so I don't really blame her for not exactly being a motherly figure since she feels more like an older sister. After all, the only person I could ever call mom is my actual mother.

Both of my parents died in a car accident when I was 8 years old. That's how this whole memory thing started. I don't have any memory from before the accident so I don't remember my parent's at all, just the things people tell me about them. I was in the accident too but I was in the back seat and was shielded from the worse part of the crash so I survived with only a few deep cuts and 1 broken rib. After the accident my aunt took me in since she was pretty much the only family member who cared enough and who could financially support me.

So after finishing breakfast I started to walk over to the local coffee shop where Natalie, Brooke, and I always meet on Sunday mornings. Natalie works there so she always gets us a discount and when we get there she usually takes her 30 minute break and we just sit and discuss things.

The three of us have been friends since elementary school. Brooke and I became friends right after I moved to Japan to live with my aunt. The three of us went to an American school in Japan that taught lessons in English while we learned Japanese on the side. On my first day of school, the start of 4th grade, Brooke offered to show me around and shared her lunch with me since my aunt made me one but it was disgusting. We immediately became friends since Brooke was sort of the sweet girl next door/class representative type.

Now Natalie didn't move here till 6th grade. She made quite the first impression on the class when she announced that she was the daughter of a mafia boss in America and that she would beat up anyone who dared to defy her. Well Brooke and I later found out that mafia boss part was a lie but the rumor still exists even today. We became friends with her after she beat up some local guys from another school who were teasing Brooke and I about being foreigners.

I arrived at the coffee shop right on time and found Brooke and Natalie already in our usually spot. Brooke is a petite girl with short curly blonde hair and dark blue eyes with glasses. Natalie is a tall girl with somewhat tan skin, hazel eyes, and she dyed her hair crimson red a few years ago.

As I started towards their table they looked up at me in surprise which is wasn't what I was expecting.

"What?" I asked and looked down at my outfit to make sure I hadn't walked out in my pajamas or anything.

"I thought you said you weren't coming today?" Brooke asked.

"No. I never said that." I said confused. I would have remembered if I said that. I mean, I am me after all.

"Yea you did. You called last night saying you wouldn't be able to make it. Speaking of which where have you been all week! You disappear as soon as the last bell rings and you said you would tell us later but you haven't said shit about it yet." Natalie says giving me a somewhat annoyed look.

"Huh?" I was even more confused now. I hung out with them a lot last week and I didn't really do anything else. I then though back to the glitch on my phone and wondered.

"Wait…what's todays date?" I asked unsure what the hell was going on.

"November 15…why?" Brooke says also looking confused.

That's when it all sort of clicked. The date isn't wrong, it's my memory that's off. I am missing a week's worth of memory. So last night when I went to sleep it was November 7th but I wake up and it's now November 15th. The girl who remembers everything just forgot an entire week of her life.

"I forgot." I simply said, still in shock.

"What?" they both asked not believing I can possibly forget anything.

"I can't remember anything that happened last week! The last thing I remember is going to bed on Saturday of last week. Did we meet at the coffee shop last week because I really can't remember anything? What the hell is happening to me?" I said starting to panic.

They both didn't know what to say for a moment. Natalie was the first to recover.

"Okay, calm down this like happens all the time in movies. It might be from some trauma or something. Usually a person's memories slowly start to come back so maybe we should just give it time. Or maybe it could be a side effect of you memory condition? You know, like, you remember so much that it needed to delete some of it in order to take in more." Natalie offers.

"What if it's some sort of disease!" I say still not exactly calming down. "As if having a memory keeping condition wasn't enough, now I have a memory loss one."

"Maybe you should go to a doctor?" Brooke asks.

"I highly doubt a doctor's going to help. After all didn't that last doctor you mentioned your memory condition to like try to dissect you or something?" Natalie says.

"Yea, no doctors." I shuddered at the memory. The guy wanted to show me to a bunch of other doctors and it got out of hand so I said that I lied to a giant committee and I kept messing up on the test on purpose. The doctor guy got really mad at me for making him look stupid.

"Well, first of all maybe we should find out what the hell happened because you were acting pretty suspicious." Natalie suggested.

"Yea! We can play detective." Brooke ads, "Try looking around your house or something for clues to what you did when you get home."

"Yup." Natalie agrees before looking at the clock and groaning. "Damn. I've got to get back to work. Anyways call us if you find something. We can also fill you on with what happened at school so you are not too out of the loop. For the first time ever we have to do the remembering and not you."

"Yea thanks guys." I said. I was a lot calmer now that I had my friends to work this out with me. We then said our goodbyes and I made my way back home to check things out.

The fact that I couldn't remember was really bugging me since I know something must have happened to make me forget. The only other time period I can't remember is the time before the accident. I really hoped that it would eventually come back to me so that I at least know nothing bad happened. If I just went about my regular life and forgot it wouldn't be bad but Natalie said I was acting suspicious so that makes me even more worried.

So I made my way back to the house and looked around. There was really nothing odd downstairs so I figured the best place to look would be my room.

I go into my room and start to look around. I first noticed something in the trashcan that caught my eye. I reached in and picked it up. It was a ring! An expensive one too by the looks of it. I studied it some more and found that it had an engraving on the inside but it was so faded that I couldn't read it.

Why in the world did I have such an expensive ring and why is it in the trash? I wanted to call Natalie and Brooke to tell them about this but I figured I should look around a bit more first. I searched all over but nothing else seemed out of place. Then I looked into my backpack that was in the hallway because that was the only other place I would put my stuff.

My backpack was pretty normal but I then found a loose piece of paper and pulled it out and it turned out to be a flier…for a Host Club? There were 7 handsome guys on the flier but I didn't really recognize any of them but I did sort of get that familiar feeling with it. I studied it and it belonged to a host club at that fancy rich school that's about a 10 minute drive away from my house.

My aunt asked if I wanted to go to that school since she can afford it but I chose to stay with my friends at the English school. The school was called Ouran Academy and I don't remember ever going in there but I drove by it a few times and I certainly don't remember a Host Club.

So now here I am with two random clues, a ring and a flier, and no memory of what happened at all. I should probably call the girls and report my findings but I already know my answer. Tomorrow we are going to this so called 'Host Club' and with any luck we will find someone who knows what's going on.


	2. Chapter 2

So today was the day Natalie, Brooke, and I are planning on visiting this so called "Host Club" after school. We had arranged to meet in the parking lot after school and Brooke was going to drive us over to Ouran.

Brooke was the only one of us who has their license and she was a pretty good driver, if you overlook her having nervous breakdowns whenever she gets behind the wheel. But like I said, she was our only option. Natalie always says she drives like a slow grandma or a limping turtle but she is getting better.

I only had to wait a few minutes before both Natalie and Brooke showed up. Natalie called shotgun so I was stuck in the back. While Brooke was fully concentrated on driving Natalie turned to face me in the back.

"So what's our plan?" Natalie asked.

"I have no clue. I was just sort of planning on winging it." I admitted. "Do you think they will just allow us to go in there?"

"Well, assuming you have been there before you must have gotten in somehow. We will just have to figure out how." Natalie suggested.

"Yea because I have no memory and no clues to figure out how I got in before but we are just going to figure out how I did it anyways." I said sarcastically.

Natalie held up her hands in surrender and said, "Just trying to help."

"Can I see that brochure thing?" Natalie asked.

"Yea, sure." I said while I got out the mini Host Club album. Natalie insisted it was a brochure but it looked like a photo album to me.

"Hmm….well if you really do know these guys then you have been holding back on us because they're pretty hot." Natalie said.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the album away from her. I scolded her by saying, "This is supposed to be a clue, not your eye candy."

"Psh…why can't I investigate and enjoy the eye candy at the same time?" Natalie said.

I've known Natalie for quite some time and it doesn't take perfect memory to know all the boy drama Natalie has been in. I think her first boyfriend was in like 2nd grade and she has always had a boyfriend since. So far she had had exactly 13 boyfriends, not that I am counting or anything, so you can see she sort of gets around. Brooke and I haven't even had a single boyfriend, unless you count Jeremy Roth in 3rd grade who would always hang out with me and hold my hand for 2 weeks until someone told him girls have cooties.

"Umm….guys….I think we are here." Brooke said nervously.

Natalie and I turned to look out the window and saw an extremely large baby pink school. By the extravagance of the school I immediately knew that this was the place. From what I know Ouran Academy was a total rich kid school. I know a bit of its history but nothing really important .

Brooke drove up to the guard gate and just stared at us and waited for us to explain why we were here. Brooke rolled down her window and looked about ready to have a panic attack.

Natalie on the other hand looked pretty calm and put her plan into action, not that we really came up with a plan. She grabbed my arm and pulled me in between the seats so that the guard could see my face and said, "We are just giving a ride to this girl here, Annette Blanche."

The guard looked at me for a second and I tensed up. Then he suddenly smiled and said, "Welcome back Miss Blanche."

Everyone in the car breathed a sigh of relief as the gates were opened. I said thank you to the guard and we drove in and looked for a parking space. I looked around to see if anything looked familiar but nothing was ringing any bells.

Brooke pulled into a parking spot and we headed to the front of the school. There was a few people moving around campus but they all looked like they were pretty busy, unlike at our school where everyone just pretty much wanders aimlessly after school.

"So where are we headed?" Brooke asked.

"I have no clue." I admitted.

"Hmm…let's ask for directions." Natalie stated.

Before I could say anything she flagged down a passerby and asked. The girl she asked gave us an "Are you stupid?" look but she told us anyways.

With that piece of information we were off. I looked around as I walked and took note of every hallway and room number we passed. Finally we reached the right room, which turned out to be a supposedly vacant music room.

I was a little nervous to go in but Brooke and Natalie were waiting on my move. I was about to open the door when a female student of this school walked right in front of us and went in so I decided to sneak inside behind her.

The three of us squeezed inside the room and found the club to be full of business. There were quite a few people spread out in little groups around the room. The room itself was very flashy and I couldn't quite figure out what to do next.

Brooke decided to stick to the outside wall and Natalie and I followed, trying to blend in as much as possible. Due to the fact we were wearing our regular clothes and everyone else was wearing a uniform, we probably stood out like a sore thumb.

I noticed a redhead walking towards us with an annoyed look on his face and I figured we were busted. I recognized him from the brochure thing I had. I recall he was one of the twins, the one on the left side of the cover photo. I saw Brooke and Natalie exchange a worried look in my peripheral vision because we honestly had no excuse for being here and he looked sort of mad.

Just then the redhead reached us and said in a slightly angry tone, "What are _you_ doing here?"

By the way he negatively emphasized "you" and was staring at me I sort picked up that his resentment was directed towards me, which is funny because I don't know what I could have possibly done to earn such resentment. I am a good girl! Well, most of the time.

"Well, we were just here to check out the infamous Host Club, that's all." Natalie said while trying to sound confident and figure out what is going on.

"That's great," he said with annoyance still clear in his voice, "But what is _she _doing here then?"

Once again, his comments are directed towards me. Well, at least I know that he probably knows what happened to me during my black out period.

"Um…well…I" I stumbled trying to come up with any sort of response as to why I am here. What could I possibly say? That I've lost my memory and you need to tell me what I did to make you hate me or something? Maybe I could say I was the twin sister of myself! After all, he is a twin so he ought to understand the confusion. Then again, that is a really stupid idea and nobody would probably believe me anyways.

Just then another redhead, who I recognized as the other twin from the picture, appeared out of nowhere and put his hand on the first boy's shoulder.

"Calm down Hikaru." The new guy said, "Sorry Annette, it's just we didn't expect to see you here so soon after what happened the other day." He gave me a sad smile and the guy I now know is named Hikaru just continued to glare, but not so noticeably now that his brother was there.

"After _what _happened?" I said confused. They both gave me an odd look and I realized I sort of blew my cover. Was it too late to pull out the twin excuse?

Natalie chose this moment to thankfully intervene and she lied and said, "Sorry, we are Annete's friends and we are actually here to help Annette recover her memories. You see she was in an accident the other day and she seems to have amnesia. We found some evidence of your club being involved in that gap of memory loss and we are just trying to re-piece all the missing pieces, understand?"

The twins looked at each other shocked and unsure what to do. The one who I don't know the name of yet regained his composure faster and told us to have a seat while they called a club meeting. I then saw some other guys I recognized from the photos saying goodbye to the flock of girls that were in the room.

I caught many eyes glancing our way with so many different emotions that I had to close my eyes and stop focusing in order to not start overthinking things. Sometimes it's better to not pay attention so I don't remember everything. Right now I just needed to focus on what is already in my mind while I wait for someone to explain what happened to me.

Natalie tapped my shoulder and I opened my eyes to find just the 7 guys left in the room. I recognized then all from the picture but one person was even more familiar. There was a little brunette that I know I sometimes see at the grocery store near my house. But last time I saw that person they were wearing a dress and now they are wearing a boys uniform so I am a little confused. I decided to drop the topic in my mind and move on.

There was a tall blonde boy with purple eyes in the center. Oddly enough, he looked over here with a somewhat fearful glance. The other blonde was a lot shorter with brown eyes and he smiled towards us but I honestly don't think his eyes were smiling. There was a really tall guy with short black hair that kept a straight face the entire time. There were those two redheaded twins over there but they were talking with a tall guy with black hair and glasses.

I looked over to the three of them and after a few second the guy with glasses looked up and we made eye contact. The eye contact sent a shiver down my spine and I felt it in my gut that I knew this guy so we must be in the right place.

I looked to Brooke and Natalie who were looking just as confused as I was. We all shared a look of determination when we realized the guy in glasses was about to speak and we might get to accomplish our mission.

The glasses guy walked to the center and said, "Welcome to the Host Club."

I picked up on the slight sarcasm and I realized it might be a little weird for them to introduce themselves to a person they already know.

"I guess I will go down the line an introduce everyone." He said sounding pretty detached and uninterested. "There is Tamaki, Hunny, Mori, Hikaru, Kaoru, and I am Kyoya. Any questions?"

Tons of questions actually but I have no clue where to start. The atmosphere in the room was pretty tense and I was still just as confused as before. The only thing I was certain of though is that after the introductions there was a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that silenced me. I tried to remember any little thing but I felt a bad headache coming that forced me to stop trying to remember. One moment I was sitting there looking at the Host Club and the next moment the pounding in my head becomes too much and everything starts to go black.


	3. Chapter 3

I was looking down at a childhood version of myself. I was dreaming and I knew it of course. Lucid dreaming I think they call it. I often dream of the past since the memories are so easily accessed in my mind. There is rarely a night where I don't have dreams, or in a lot of cases they would be considered nightmares. I remember Brooke telling me how she rarely ever dreams and how much I envied her.

I continued to stare at the younger and more innocent version of myself. I was 8 and it was just a week after the accident. I watched myself play with a puzzle that had been set on the table to keep me busy. I hated puzzles. I thought they were pointless and there was no challenge to putting to pieces together that were already made to fit together. My aunt used to put up to 4 different puzzled together in 1 pile and leave me to sort them out while she worked.

People asked me a lot back then if I was sad about the loss of my parents. I never was. It was hard to be sad about people you can't remember. The saddest part was the fact that I couldn't remember and after a while I stopped trying to. Then again I am not very sad when I am separated from people I know even now. Except for my aunt, Natalie, and Brooke, there were few people I emotionally connected with. It is hard to connect with people who you know that you will forever remember but they will eventually forget.

I then watched myself turn my head towards the hall where the sound of a young lady calls my name. I saw my aunt walk in the room looking extremely young yet wearing an outfit that I swear she still has. She was only 23 when she adopted me. I remember that it was 2 weeks later that she would hire a nanny to take care of me. That nanny would only last a year though before getting fired and replaced by the nanny I had till middle school.

I watched the conversation unfold as she greeted me and asked how I was feeling. I gave short responses and avoided most of the questions flung at me. Then she started to complain about her day.

"Those old men at the meeting kept going on and on. They kept talking about all this legal stuff and how I am not fit to be a guardian. They just don't realize that I am probably the only one in the world that can take care of you." She complained while packing the remainder of her stuff.

Those were the days when my aunt actually wanted to be my guardian. There would be many times down the road where she would wish she had let them take me to an orphanage but for the most part she still is very protective of me.

"They kept giving excuses like how it would affect my studies at college and my ability to find a husband. Don't they know that old saying?" she continued.

She looked down at me and I looked confused. I didn't know what saying she was talking about because she wouldn't finish her sentences. She finished packing her bag, threw it over her shoulder, grabbed my hand and walked out the door. I was forced to leave my puzzle lying unfinished on the table. We walked past the giant sign that read BRANIN LAW OFFICES and towards the car.

My aunt finally decided to end with her closing statement as we pushed open the front door.

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." She said assertively.

I looked up at her confused once again. I think that was a moment in my life where I thought to myself that I would never be truly happy. Why? Well it involved the thought process of a child. If all life gives you is lemons then my life would suck because I don't like lemonade or anything with lemons in it for that matter. So I came to that dreary conclusion. Now I know it is just a saying but I still don't like lemons.

I looked into the eyes of the younger me as I pondered the meaning of life to an 8-year-old and I remembered the thought process going on in my head. Then I heard someone say, "Annette!"

I looked back towards mini me and found myself still starting at the pathway. I then herd it again but I recognized it to be not from anyone in my dream.

"Annette! Wake up!"

I recognized the voice at Natalie's and I wondered for a second what she was doing in my room at 7 in the morning.

I slowly opened my eyes and was blinded by the light.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

My eyes adjusted and I realized that I definitely wasn't in my room.

"Huh?" I simply said.

"You fainted remember?" Brooke said gently.

I turned to look at her and found a group of slightly familiar boys behind her.

"Huh?" I just said again. Before anyone else could say anything though the memories came flooding back like they always do and I remembered what I was in the middle of.

"Oh right." I said while trying to stand myself up and ignore the embarrassing situation of having everyone's attention on me. A large hand grabbed just above my elbows and helped pull me up. I looked up towards the person and found it to be the tallest of the group with short black hair. I whispered my thanks and took a step back from the crowd.

"So where were we?" I said trying to keep a normal expression on instead of a confused or worried one.

"Well we were at the part where you fainted for no apparent reason." Natalie said sounding slightly angry out of concern for me.

"Well there is a reason; it's just not a very reasonable one." I said slyly avoiding the question. She rolled her eyes and let it drop.

"Sorry about that," I said turning my attention back on the guys. "Sorry about this whole thing actually. You guys probably don't have anything to do with this and we were just jumping to conclusions. We will stop inconveniencing you."

I saw the shocked and confused look in Natalie and Brooke's faces but thankfully they didn't say anything. I just felt like getting out of there and going home despite the fact that my curiosity was tingling. I admit that their faces and their named seemed slightly familiar, like déjà vu.

We turned to leave but I felt someone grab my arm. I turned back and found it to be one of the red headed twins.

"What if we do know you?" he asked. I saw an look cross his eyes that I was unfamiliar with and I just froze.

The other twin appeared next to him and glared at the other twin.

"But we don't." the new arrival said warningly to his twin.

The one who grabbed my arm released his grip and looked down so I couldn't see his face. The other twin also looked away.

I recalled the one who first grabbed me being named Kaoru and the other was Hikaru. My eyes scanned over everyone else in the room. The atmosphere was tense to say the least.

After about a few minutes of dead silence I decided to get this over with. I wanted the truth, even if it was something I didn't want to hear.

"All right, so I know that you guys know me already." I said while looking over everyone in the room and noticed a few with some guilty looking expressions on. "Now I know this might be awkward but someone better start explaining what happened. Now."

Within 5 minutes we had all settled around the couches and we were staring at each other expectantly. Natalie had specifically sat next to Tamaki since I know she is obsessed with marrying a French boy. She was probably the only person in the room who doesn't feel awkward right now. Brooke sat next to me and she had one of her hands resting on my shoulder for emotional support.

After a few seconds of more awkward silence I decided to make the first move. "Alright so how did I first meet you guys?"

"Well you met me first so I can answer that question." Haruhi said.

"We shop at the same grocery store don't we?" I asked, but it came out more like a statement. I started to piece a little bit of the puzzle together using the information I already had.

"Yea. That's how we met actually." She explained. "I was sort of having a bad day and we started talking. I ended up accidentally telling you about how I had to pretend to be a boy at school and a bit about the Host Club."

"Wait!" Brooke exclaimed, looking shocked. "You're a girl!"

The rest of the Host Club looked ready to pounce but Haruhi just shrugged and nodded.

"No shit, Sherlock." Natalie said to Brooke. "No boy, or at least straight boy in a Host Club, would look so feminine and have fruit smelling shampoo."

"Huh?" I asked Natalie, a bit confused about the shampoo part.

"Sorry I sort of smelled your hair earlier." Natalie admitted to Haruhi. I should have suspected that knowing how Natalie had less boundaries than most people I knew.

Haruhi just raised an eyebrow and looked at Natalie who just shrugged like it was no big deal and they dropped it.

"I want to smell my daughter's fruity hair!" Tamaki wined.

Haruhi shot him a death glare and the rest of the Host Club just shook their heads in exasperation.

"Anyways, when we were talking I also mentioned why I was in such a bad mood and you volunteered to help. That's what led you into meeting the rest of the club." Haruhi continued with her story.

Alright now I knew how I met one of the 7 people in this room. Now I just had to hear how I met the other six and why everyone is acting so weird around me. Maybe then I could fix it, if I still wanted to at least. Why is it so hard not being able to remember something when I spent almost my whole life wishing I could just forget even a second of my memory!


End file.
